SAW 0 3
by B.D. Skunkworks
Summary: The STNJ's investigation moves to full swing as zero's hand is finally revealed. Meanwhile, detective Dojima finds himself in a living nightmare, and must fight to not only save himself, but the people closest to him...
1. Chapter 1

AUTHOR'S NOTE 2: THE MASKS

No dought you readers are wondering what's happening when those tv's come on "Where's Billie the puppet?" "What's up with the stupid carnival mask things?" Very valid questions, to which I have a valid answer for. Remember, this is MY version of SAW. It's the same idea, just set in a different universe. The reason's the gamemasters wear those masks is, number one, obviously to protect their identity, and two, to scare the hell out of whoever happens to be viewing the message, (you'll learn pretty soon that the messages are not recorded on VHS's).

As for the masks themselves, I've taken a variety of shrouds that some of you gamers may be familiar with, and I guess that's it's time to tell you who is behind what mask.

The mask most recently seen "The insect mask" belongs to numb^^#^##(( her original game took place i(##&&####&&2 Fu&&^^**!((!(! . And then Amon((((((**********^^#^############)))_))((***2...

..._"Hello reader. As you may have guessed by now, I am zero. I have jammed this transmission for the obvious purposes. Suffice it to say I find it rather distasteful for the narrirator to give away so much information about my subordinates; some things are better off left unknown. although it is indeed inevitable that you will begin to put the pieces of this puzzle together for yourself, and for that, I applaud you._

_ But I ask you, reader, how deep into my puzzle are you willing to go to find the answers? The next game I play, just may be your own. Read on or don't...the choice is yours..._

_##############################################################################_

Nanali awoke suddenly. Her awakening felt rather strange, as though she was coming out of a sleep she never remembered falling into. The room she was in was pitch black, then again, _every_ room she was in was pitch black, as she was born without the power of sight. The darkness never bothered her. But what did bother her, was the new sensation that was slowly washing over her. She felt...restrained. She tried to move her arms which were extended above her, but all she got for her effort was the bite of metal into her wrists. "Someone help!" her own small voice was thrown back at her, which gave Nanali a hint as to the size of the place she was in.

Nanali tried moving her legs, but they were held tight by what felt like cold metal. And then she became aware of a sound. It was still far off, but it may as well have been a deafening raquet due to Nanali's over-developed sense of hearing. As the sound drew closer, she realised what it was; footsteps. Someone was coming. The footsteps stoped for a moment and then the sound of a heavy metal door creaking open invaded her ears. "Who's there..." Nanali's voice trembled. "Please help me...".

The mysterious figure walked across the room, Nanali's heart rate elevating with every step. She could feel whoever it was, they were less than a foot in front of her. Then Nanali could feel something next to her face, a heat; a gentle heat of another human body. The person was leaning directly into her ear,and then , they spoke,  
"Fear not."

Nanali's body went limp. The voice, although unfamiliar, was strangely comforting. And it was female. The person took a few steps back. "Wh-what are doing?" As if in answer, a deafening sound filled the room. Nanali didn't know what it was , but it sounded mechanical, and it sounded close. "What is that!" The sound intensified to a high pitch whirring. Nanali whiped her head around to better gauge where it was coming from, but it seemed to be all around her, and then...

Her stomach caught fire.

Or that's what it felt like. something felt as though it was boring it's way through her flesh. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHGHHGHGGHHg!" Nanali felt her hot blood run down her abdomen. and then she felt the same hard device begin to cut through one of her legs."AAAAAAAAGHg god HELP ME!". She couldn't keep track of the pain being inflicted on her, every second she felt a new device cutting into a new part of her body. Nanali coughed up a huge amount of blood and her head droped to her chest. In her final and fading strength she could see a light, and then, nothing.

SAW 0

/3\

###########################################

Fukka raised herself from her metal chair and did a slight strech of her limbs. She had been sitting in that damn chair for almost two hours, and she had gone stiff as a result. She looked to her right and saw the two dead victims still in their retraints; their brains had been peirced by steel drill bits. Fukka laughed lightly to herself and withdrew her cellphone from her pocket. She dialed a number and waited, but not for long. "It's four," she said."Phase two is complete." There was a slight pause, " No, the subject failed." Another pause. "Understood, phase three will begin shortly. Zero's will be done." Fukka put her phone away, straitened her skirt and walked out of the room, leaving nothing but death behind her.

##############################################################################

"You wanna run that by me again?"

Amon and the the rest of the STNJ investigators had just returned to the precinct. There, Amon gave his account to the rest of the investigation team, who couldn't believe what they just heard.

"Why the hell would they take the kid and not you?" Adachi had never liked the STNJ much, and this little slip up of theirs didn't do much for his opinion of them.

"For the hundreth time, if we knew we'd tell you!" Sakaki fumed. He was sitting in a rolling chair with his feet elevated on the hard steel desk. The meeting was going in a small corner office of the precinct, as everywhere else was too busy to book. The sleepy little station had finally come alive due to the rash of dissapearences that spread across the town.

"And where the hell is Dojima anyway?" Adachi asked.

"Couldn't tell ya,"Sakaki huffed."Last I seen 'em he was storming out of the crime scene; haven't seem 'em since."

"He's more than likely trying to find his nephew's trail," Amon said heavily.

Adachi was about to say something to that when the door to the office crashed open. Karasuma rushed in, she was completly out of breath and her face was flushed red. She had a piece of paper in her hand, which she waved about furiously as she tried to catch her breath.

"The...results..."

"What have you got, Miho" Amon said steadily.

"I ran the prints that came off that needle we found on the train," she huffed.

"So, who's are they?"

"...They're Altair's..."

The room went deathly silent for what felt like forever. The only sound to be heard was the soft drone of the television set in the office, which was currently set to the news channel.

"How the fuck is that possible?" sakaki asked.

No one in the room seemed to be able to muster an answer, but then, something even stranger happened. The tv which was idily running the news had suddenly turned to static, as though it had lost it's signal.

"Just great..." Adachi grumbled. He got up to maybe bang on it a few times, but was frozen in his tracks about halfway there. something had replaced the static on the tv, or maybe it was _someone_. Who or what it was, none of them were sure. The figure wore a dark blue mask, it looked as though its head came to several rounded spiked points. The mask was completly featureless, no nose mouth or anything. It slowly turned its faceless facade towards the screen, and even more sowly, began to speak:

"_Hello, Inaba. Very recently your quiet little town has been plauged with a rash of mysterious deaths. The uninfomed will call these murders, I call them, unwillingness to live._

_You have deployed your every resource in the investigation of these events, and all the while turning up absolutely nothing. Sometimes you just have to have what you're looking for come to you. Now I will give you something Inaba.I am Zero. You have seen my work firsthand, and yet you are unable to look past the things that are presented to you. 'See no evil' is the old saying, but instead, you see nothing but evil, but that is not the meaning of my work._

_ So, people of Inaba, you think you've seen suffering? You haven't seen anything yet."_

_##############################################################################_

All Kanji could see was darkness; well technically, he wasn't capable of seeing anything, as he was unconscious, but it was dark none the less. Then the lights clicked on, and Kanji awoke with them. At first all he could feel was something cold, like metal, but his elevated heart rate soon spread an alarming heat throuhout his body. He tried moving, but his entire body was restrained. "Somebody help!" he was locked in something that resembled a coffin, or that's what he could most closely akin it to.

Then a flat screen TV on the other side of the small room flickered to life. The image on it made no sense. It couldn't have been human; it looked more like some kind of mask. It was red and purple with short yellow spikes that ran along it's edge. It had two enourmous unblinking yellow eyes with huge black pupils. The figure slowly turned Kanji's way and began to speak;

_"Hello, Kanji, I want to play a game. Over the years you've presented a false face to the seem to be caught between a need to prove yourself, and to dominate and control what others think of you. Those around you wouldn't accept you for who you truly were, so you hardened yourself; you took on a guise, or a persona, if you will, to gain a more favorable attitude from the very same people who riddiculed you. But today, I offer you the oppourtunity to break that shell once and for all._

_ The device you are locked in is called the iron man. When this message is done playing, you will have one minute to free yourself. You must cut away the facade you carried on for so long, or else the shell you created for yourself shall forever become your tomb. So I ask you, Kanji, how much of your falsehood are you willing to cut through to reveal your true self, the choice is yours."_

"Fuck that! " Kanji screamed. But that's when something happened. Kanji heard a loud creak and something swung over the device he was locked in. "Holy shit!" They were blades. They perfectly alligned themselves with the perimiter of the coffin-like device. If Kanji wanted to escape, he would have to force his way through them. A digital timer had replaced the figure on the tv, and it was counting backwards from 1:00. The internal straps originally holding him in place were released and kanji was free to move...almost. As he was in a standing position, he would have to push himself through the blades that just aligned themselves with the device.

Kanji took several breaths in short sharp bursts, "You asshole zero! You wanna piece a me!" Kanji screamed as he worked himself up, "You just watch! HERE I GO!"

Kanji worked on lifting both his arms first. He didn't move more than an inch before the blades began to eat into his arms. "AAAAGHGHA!" They were more sharply angled than he had thought and they pierced his flesh right to the muscle. "AAHGHHA C'MON, C'MON!" Kanji used his anger and pain as momentum as he pulled his lacerated arms free of the device. "AHH FUCK!..." Blood flowed freely from his brutally damaged arms, but he would have to damage himself even further if he wanted to live. 00:46... Kanji braced his arms on the outside of the device and leaned his upper body into the blades, "AHHHH FUCK, FUCK!" The blades dug into his face, his chest, and his abdomen as he struggled to push himself free. Kanji's body was on fire; the blades were designed to only allow him to move forward, he couldn't lean back, so the knives embedded themselves and litteraly rested inside his flesh. "AAHHGHH..." the pain was quickly sapping Kanji's energy and was begining to dull his brain . He couldn't think past how much pain he was doing himself.

00:21... "AAGHHHH!" with a desperate push, Kanji freed his upper body, but at great expense. Half of his body was no longer recognizable; the gaping wounds and rivers of crimson blood had seen to that. But now all he had to do was free his legs. "AHHHAGG GO!" He pulled his right leg up and immediatly felt the hellacious resistance of the blades; they mercilessly sliced his flesh to absolute ribbons. They dug so deep into his quadracept that he could feel the blades against his bone. 00:10... Kanji jerked and wrenched his leg splattering blood in every direction "Please Noooo!"

00:05...

"NO, NO, NO!"

00:04...

Kanji's desperation prevented pain at that point, as he finally jerked his leg free.

00:03...

"Just one more, I can do it!"

00:02...

"I can fucking win!"

00:01...

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

00:00...

The face of the device swung and snapped closed, or it would have, if Kanji's body wasn't in the way. It slammed shut on Kanji's chest causing his ribcage to implode. His now lifeless body slumped over; his arms almost reaching the floor as his upper body leaned over in at an impossible angle, now that his spine was broken. The only thing holding him together, was the device that had become his tomb.

-END OF CHAPTER 1


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

The room had gone deathly silent; no one was able to speak, nor seemingly able to breathe. After what felt like an hour, karasuma finally choked out, "Please tell me I'm not the only one who saw that..."

"We all saw it," Amon said evenly.

"Please tell me I'm not the only one who saw that..." The woman was in a state of shock.

It was then that Amon made the first move in the room. He stood up and made his way to the door.

"Where the hell are you going?" Adachi fumed.

"To have a look," was the simple answer.

"Someone had better follow that guy or we'll never see him again," Sakaki said.

"Save that for later," Karasuma spoke up. Apparently she had regained her composure. "That was a hacked broadcast; it may have only been played once,but it more than likely left a digital thumbprint, and we just so happen to have a guy who can find it..."

"I'll call 'em now," Sakaki said withdrawing his cell phone.

"You, Adachi, get your people to contact the TV station and tell them to launch a pacifying broadcast in response to what had just happened; there's no dought that every last person in Inaba just saw that."

Adachi was about to argue, just who did this bitch think she was ordering him around like that? Then he remembered his particular place on this totem pole and left the room to carry out the order.

Karasuma took a deep breath and tried to focus her thoughts, "You get him yet?" she asked Sakaki.

"Still ringing," was the response.

"keep at it," she said back. "I'm gonna catch this freak if it's the last thing I do."

She cast a long look at the static that had replaced the chilling broacast on the TV, '_If it's the last thing I do'_ she repeated in her head.

##############################################################################

There were two peple in the room; one was crouched in front of a large make-shift jail cell; it was no more than a large cage built in front of a brick wall designed to house the second person, who was unconscious. Suddenly, the heavy steel door to the small dingy room creaked open. The new entrant surveyed the scene and said, "Is everthing ready?"

"Of course it is, four," said the first person.

"Well it's about time for the game to begin, _seven_," she spat the woman's guise as to better portray her impatience, "so I suggest you hurry." she held out a recorder to the woman.

"Time is what we make of it, four, remember that." She took the recorder from four's hand and pulled a mask over her face; it was red, purple, and yellow with two huge yellow eyes with black pupils. She held down the record button on the device and began to speak;

_"Hello, Nanako..."_

##############################################################################

'_God, he's so hot...' _ Misa was lost in her thoughts as she stared at the object of her entrancement. The things she would do to him...the things she wished he would do to her... Misa felt a hot shiver of lust run throughout her body, then she felt something else.

"Staring much?" said the person who had just clapped her on the shoulder.

Misa jumped and turned to see her friend Yukari Takeba standing there. "Geez, Yu-Yu, don't do that," she said.

"Well, if you weren't so lost in la-la land, you would have seen me coming. But I don't blame you, Lelouch is really cute."

'Really cute' was a criminal understatement as far as Misa was concerned, but she didn't tell Yukari that. Lelouch was surrounded by a group of his friends, but somewhere, he had left off talking to them and turned his head to stare pointedly at Misa. Misa felt as though her heart had stoped in her chest. The stare of Lelouch's wide dark eyes pierced right through her; and made her feel dizzy all over again.

The school bell rang and Lelouch and his group of friends made their way down the hallway towards them. As they passed, Lelouch maintained his intense stare at Misa, who couldn't break her eyes away from his hypnotizing gaze; she felt her knees go weak.

"Oooooh...I think he likes you," Yukari whispered.

Misa couldn't find the words to say.

"By the way, did you see that thing on TV last night?"

"That strange broadcast?" Misa said.

"Some special effects, huh? The news channel even had an emergency report on afterwards. They really went out of their way to make it seem real."

"Like some kind of horror show, huh?" Misa responded vaguely.

Before anything else was said, Misa felt her cell phone vibrate in her skirt pocket. She took it out and flipped it open; she had recieved a text message. She opened the message and went pale under her makeup.

"You alright?" Yukari asked her.

"I gotta go." And she took off down the hallway at top speed, leaving yukari to stand and wonder.

##############################################################################

Dojima felt...heavy; something was coming back to him in his half-consciousness; a car, some kind of image, none of it made sense. Dojima shuddered and was suddenly wide awake. To his surprise, he was still inside his police cruiser, but he screamed as he soon realized his situation. His hands had been handcuffed to the steering wheel, he desperately jerked his arms in a wild belief that he could somehow break the cuffs. "SOMEONE HELLLLPPPP!" his surroundings remained black and silent, and then another detail came to his attention; his feet had been handcuffed to the padals; his right foot to the gas, and his left foot to the brake. "SHIT, WHAT THE FUCK!" Once he calmed down enough to realize that he was alive and relatively unharmed he took in his surroundings again. Everything about his car seemed to look unchanged, but the windows had been painted over and he couln't see anything out of them.

Then he noticed something, it was what looked like a small recorder, it was attached to the center of the steering wheel.

Now Dojima knew what this was.

He had been abduced by zero. After studying the case related to zero, Dojima knew he was about to be sentenced to a trial he never deserved; a trial to win his life back. But not just his own life, he was here because of Altair, and if he had to follow this phycho's rulebook to get him back, then so be it. Dojima tooka breath and pressed the play button:

_"Hello, Dojima. Very recently you have lost someone very close to you, their loss was your error and you rightly bear the blame, but now you have a chance to not only re-insure their life, but also your own. In order for your trial to begin, you must escape from where you are now, to do that all you have to do is search my words. Upon success, you will have two hours to reclaim what you have lost, however you must look beyond what is presented to you, for in the end if you make the wrong decision you will lose more than what you are looking for._

_ Heed my warning, Dojima, ensure your own house is in order before you go chasing shadows. Let the game begin."_

As soon as the message crackled out, the car Dojima was in gave a sudden lurch and began to ever so slowly, move forward. "SHIT!" The lights in the room flashed on and Dojima could now see out of the wind sheild. The car was on a conveyer belt, it looked to be about fiftey yards long. At the end was something that looked like a steamroller; if wasn't out of the car by then...

Dojima went wild and jerked at his restraints, but the cuffs wouldn't give. Then he remembered the message, what had it said? He had a deathgrip on the small device in his panic; staring at it now he recalled a small part of it, ' _All you have to do is seach my words...' _ how the hell was he supposed to do that? Dojima cast a look ahead and felt his stomach drop to his knees. The car was more than halfway along the conveyer belt, had it sped up, or was he lost too long in thought? Almost without thinking, Dojima began to dissasemble the recorder in his hand . He took off the battery cover and removed the batteries; nothing. The car rumbled along and Dojima feared losing his grip on the device through sheer panic.

He ejected the tape and peered inside the tape compartment; empty. "THE FUCK!"

He shook his hands and then noticed an un-natural rattle that came from the tape he had ejected. He looked closer at it and saw...a miniscule key tucked between the tape rollers. Dojima took the tape betwen his thumbs and tried pulling the tape apart. "C'mon, c'mon...!"

The tape split and Dojima dumped the key into his hand. Using his left hand he freed his right first, then worked the key into the left. Now he had to free his feet . He was able to bring his right leg up just far enough to meet his arm that he stretched under the steering wheel. He worked the key into the small lock by just feel alone. Dojima could hear the mechanical whirring of the steamrollers as the car rolled closer to it's doom.

"SHIT!" One more lock to go. Using the same method as the other, Dojima was able to free his left foot. Now he had to escape the car. He opened the driver's side door and rolled out. He hit the unforgiving concrete floor hard enough to knock the breath out of him. He was able to look up and see as the car was crushed under the steamrollers. The rear of the car rose slightly as the front end was taken under; the windows shatterd under the pressure and in no time the car was crushed flat.

Dojima lay on his back as he stared at the scene, knowing full well that could have been him. He stood up slowly and wondered what he was to do next. In answer, a light clicked on suddenly to his left, illuminating a doorway. Dojima took the hint. As he hobbled through the doorway he said out loud, "Don't worry, I'll find you, Altair, I promise."

-END OF CHAPTER 2

-again sooooo sorry about the gaps between chapter posts. I got alot goin' on.


	3. Chapter 3

AUTHOR'S NOTE: SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! Zero hacked my last transmission; he's more clever than I gave him credit for. This line is tapped so I have to make this quick:

*Odolwa is three*

*Goght is eight*

*Gyorg is two*

*Twinmold is four*

*Majora's mask is seven*

*Big daddy-bouncer is nine*

*Haku men is six*

...I hope this helped.

-Kilingsky

##################################################################################

CHAPTER 3

Amon never minded the smell of death; that's not to say it didn't bother him, it was just something he could put up with. The scene before him was no different. He stood before the remains of a young girl. The girl had been cut to pieces by motorized razor-rings; her entire midsection had been shredded and now lie strewn on the cold concrete floor, the upper half of her body was still held in place by iron shackles; her entrails dangled pointlessly from what was left of her body. Dispite all this, it was another detail that caught Amon's attention.

Carved in the girl's right arm was a number...his number. The problem was, this was not his work. "That little bitch," he muttered. He knew instantly who was accountable for this. He withdrew his cell phone from his trench coat pocket. His first action was to hammer out a text message, upon sending the message, he made a call. "Get everyone down here; got something you might wanna see..."

/

Thirty minutes later, the STNJ and their squad of forensic investigators had arrived on the scene.

"Jesus Christ," Karasuma breathed.

"This is fucking ridiculuos," Sakaki followed. "The trap we saw on that broadcast had a guy on it, right? So when the fuck did this happen?"

"Whenever it did, it was a long time ago," Amon answered.

"So how did you find this so fast ? You got a bad habit of not tellin' us things." Sakaki asked him.

"I was lead here," was the simple answer.

"By who?"

"By whoever sent this."

Amon handed Karasuma his cell phone. On it's screen were precise directions leading him through the cities' matainance acsess underground to this isolated room.

"This is unreal," Karasuma said. "There aren't that many people who have acsess to this kind of information." She cast a look at Amon, "How did you get this? And why would they send it to _you_?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Amon answered boredly.

Just then, Karasuma's cell phone went off. She hastily checked it to find she had recieved a text message. She opened the message; "What the hell..."

"What is it?" Sakaki asked.

She showed the others her phone. The message on it read:

_HAVE YOU FOUND HER YET?_

_ "_What the hell's that mean?"

Before anyone could answer, Sakaki's cell went off. He dug it out of his pocket to find he had recieved a message as well. "Oh, shit." His message read:

_ONE STEP CLOSER TO CLOSING THE CIRCLE_

(856) 999-0000

"This doesn't make sense. Wait... I think that's a phone number!" Sakaki exclaimed.

"Call it!" Karasuma urged.

Sakaki input the number and made the call. "I'll put it on speaker."

He held the phone out for them all to hear. It rang several times and then clicked and went silent, as though someone on the other line had answered it. And then a new sound came through; a manic sort of high-pitched cackle, something they could only akin to a fever-induced carnival nightmare. The insanity-driven laughter filled the grimy room, reverberating off it's walls.

"Turn that off," Karasuma pleaded. Sakaki fliped the phone closed and stood in confused silence. "Do we have an I.D. on the girl?" Karasuma asked, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Nanali Lamperouge." Amon said quietly.

"There you go again," Sakaki said, annoyed. "Why is it you always know things we don't?"

"I know her name because I once met her sibling; her older brother," Amon said in answer. "They both attend St. Hermelin."

"More St. Hermelin victims..." Karasuma said quietly. " Every person we've ever found in one of these traps has been a student of that school. Why do you think that is?"

"That's the only constant in this case," Sakaki said back. "Kids go missing from St. Hermelin and later end up dead, it's actually getting-"

"Well, now's the time to find out why. Amon, head back to the precinct, tell them to round up a squadren and form a perimiter around that school; nobody's getting in or out until we get some answers."

Without a word, Amon turned and left the room.

"Things are going swimmingly, eh?" Sakaki said, staring at the body of Nanali, which was suddenly illuminated by a forensics photographer's flash.

"This maniac's had control for long enough," Karasuma responded. "Our new initiative should-"

Karasuma was cut off by the sound of her phone ringing. She fliped it open. "Karasuma here." her face lit at at the caller's responese. "It's Michael, finally." She put the phone on speaker and held it out for Sakaki to hear. "Any progress with that broadcast?"

"_Plenty," _ said Michael's voice through the phone. _"Like number one; the broadcast wasn't a hack job like we originally thought, it was played right from damn tv station. And secondly, it was an mpeg, not a live feed, someone must have planted it in their network and set it to play at a specific time."_

"That's great and all, Michael, but any leads on the signiture, like where-"

"Enough, Sakaki," Karasuma warned. "So what you're saying is, this was all set up in advance?" she said to the phone.

_"Precisely,"_ Michael said back. _"And to answer Sakaki's question, no, I've got no lead on the origin of this thing. The signal incription is either too strong or non-existent. It like trying to catch a ghost..."_

"Okay, thank you, Michael. Call us if anything else develops." Karasuma replaced the phone in her pocket and stared at Sakaki. "Yes," she said. "Things are going swimmingly..."

##################################################################################

Misa was in a panic. She paced the thankfully empty floor of the girls restroom with her phone wide open to the message she had recieved not five minutes ago:

_YOU CAN'T FOOL ME, I KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE_

Someone out there had seen through her plot, and she knew just who it was. She had betrayed the rules and underminded zero's will; she was sure to be punished. "I can't stay here..." Misa thought aloud to herself, she knew she had to escape. She rushed to the bathroom's window. She was only on the second floor of the building, a fall from here would do her no harm. Upon opening the window, Misa saw something else that made her heart jump into her throat.

A line of police cruisers had filed into the school's courtyard, along with them were several armored trucks. SWAT team members and police officers soon filled the courtyard.

"Oh, FUCK!" Misa shouted. She retreated to the door to maybe find another way out of the building; she pulled the handle, but the door was locked. Just how the hell had that happened? She tugged on it a few more fruitless times, "What the hell!" She was traped here. In a few minutes the police would find her and take her away. She bent her head and cried into one of the bathroom's sinks. She lifted her suddenly cloudy head and felt her heart stop.

What happened next took no longer than a millionth of a second.

She was not alone in this bathroom. Reflected in the mirror behind her was the figure of someone much bigger than she was, this was the only detail she was given time to discern. The person pounced on her and covered her nose and mouth with their leather-gloved hands. Misa breathed in a lungful of something that burned her brain, and at once, the world became dark.

##################################################################################

Dojima wandered slowly into the newly illuminated corridor. Just where or _what_ this place was, or used to be was something that eluded him. His mind was focused solely on finding Altair. The dank corridor he now explored was litered with things that looked to have been down here for longer than forever; old car tires were everywhere, oil canisters and broken glass. Dojima ignored them all and kept moving. His short journey stoped at the end of the corridor when he reached a rusty metal door. The only reason he stoped, was because this door didn't seem to be normal. Written on it in sickining red letters were the words:

_REMEMBER YOUR CLOSEST_

Dojima was obviously at a loss as to what that meant, but he knew his destination was through this door. He leaned into the heavy door with his full body-weight, but still had some difficulty opening it. It finally crashed open and Dojima stumbled into a huge dark room. "Altair!" He couldn't see a thing... for about a second. A set of blinding lights flared on and Dojima was met with his first ordeal.

The room was enourmous, large enough to house two stationary cars. "What the hell is this..."

Almost as if in answer, a smaller set of lights flashed on; these revealing a young and frightened man. "HOLY SHIT!" He was lying horizontally between the two cars, straped down by his abdomen. His arms and legs were chained to either of the cars rear bumpers. "Get me the fuck out of here!"

"Jesus!" Dojima rushed to the young man's aid, pulling on his restraints, but to no avail.

"Aww, c'mon, do something!"

Dojima steped back and took a closer look at the boy. Something about him was...familiar. He recognized the school uniform, t was the same as Altair's; the uniform of St. Hermelin.

"What are you lookin' around for? Help me dammit!" The boy thrashed against his restraints with no results.

Then, Dojima found what he was looking for. On the trunk door of the car on his right he saw a recorder. "Shit..." He unhitched it from it's place and pressed the play button:

_"Hello, Dojima. The abduction of your nephew has no dought left a bad taste in your mouth, but now you will find the oppourtunity to take your first step on the path of redemtion. Before you now you will find a young man in dire need of help. This person is someone you should already be familiar with, as per your prior confrontaion. His name is Masao Inaba. He fits somewhere between the labels of troubled youth, and juevinille delinquint. In his desire to prove himself worthy in the eyes of the pathetic human beings he calls friends, he developed a certain talent; stealing cars._

_ You once punished him for that crime, and quite obviously, the lesson didn't stick. But today, he will truly learn. At the end of this message, a sixty second timer will begin, at the end of that minute, Masao will be torn apart if you do not offer your assistance. To your right is an oil drum, next to it is a box containing the two keys that will shut off the two cars. Using your mouth, you must siphon enough of the oil into the box to gain acesess to the keys, then fit the right key to the right ignition._

_ When faced with death, will Masao truly learn his lesson? Make your choice."_

The message faded away and a new sound filled the space; the sounds of two cars coming to life. The engines roared and black exhaust billowed from their tail pipes.

"FUCKING SHITTT!" Masao looked to Dojima. "C'mon man, HELP ME!"

Now Dojima knew where he knew this kid from, having once arrested him for grand theft auto. Even with his crimes, Dojima knew he didn't come close to deserving this.

"Aright..." He took a look at the oil drum and saw the pipe that protruded from it's top.

"HURRY THE FUCK UP, MAN!" Even at a scream, Masao's voice was barely audible over the roar of the two car engines.

Dojima took a deep breath, sealed his mouth around the oil tube, took a huge inhale...and thought he was going to be sick. He immediatly spit the oil out in a black cloudy spray. This wasn't fresh oil. It was old, it was dirty, and it was used. It was texturaly inconsistent and was full of soft bits of sludge and hard pieces of metal and carbon. Dojima knew there was no way he could complete this task.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!"

Dojima was too busy tying to wipe the oil off his tounge with his shirt to answer. Little bits of metal were still caught in his teeth and the sheer rotten taste of the stuff was causing his stomach to heave.

"GOD NO! Masao's time was nearly up as he struggled to somehow break his restarints. Dojima could only turn away from what happened next.

The intant the timer hit zero, the car's tires screeched sending clouds of smoke and the smell of burning rubber into the air. The chains on Masao's arms and legs drew taught and in a flash, he was swiflty pulled apart as the cars drove aimlessly towards opposite sides of the huge room. Dojima cringed at the unnerving sound of a human body being torn apart.

When at last all sound in the room faded away, Dojima cautiously turned around made his slow way across the room to the door that had suddenly creaked open. He took an extra wide step over the gory trail the car had made as it dragged Masao's shredded body across the floor. At the dorway, Dojima took a last look back at the scene. He was sorry he couldn't help the boy, but he had more important things to worry about, like finding Altair. With no further hesitation, he walked through the door.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

"You are un-FUCKING BELIEVABLE!"

Sakaki And Karasuma had finally gotten face to face with St. Hermelin's vice principal, Mr. Hanya. Whilst police officers and SWAT team members filled the school and attempted to keep the students calm (some of them simultaniously weilding shotguns and speaking in a somewhat alarming tone of voice), The two investigators had managed to learn something very interesting.

"Here we are, scouring the damn city, desperate for a fucking whiff, and you go and drop a fucking bomb like that!" Sakaki paced the room and furiously ran his black-gloved fingers through his shaggy hair. He stopped in front of the vice principal's desk and slammed his hands on the marble surface, drawing his face close to the startled vice president.

"You're a piece 'a work, you know that? Do you know what you've done? Do have any fucking idea what you've just done? Not only have you kept your little student body in the dark, as well as the authorities; you kept us ignorant, and that basically makes you complicit you sonuva-"

"Enough, Sakaki!" Karasuma said, calling him off. I can understand Mr. Hanya's view; to a point. While he elected to tell no one, I'm very sure he had his reasons." She stared at the man pointedly.

Mr. Hanya unknoted his neck tie and unbuttoned several buttons on his shirt. "It's true, I did agree with myself to keep silent-"

"No shit," Sakaki spat.

Karasuma shot him a look and urged Mr. Hanya to go on;

"But I didn't see it elevating to this level. Things like this are poping up all over the city. And it's not like the students are completly in the dark about what's going on. People talk; students want to know why their best friends have stoped coming to school. They ply us for answers, and we tell them not to worry. I didn't really mean any harm..."

"Heh, for a cheapskate who tries ducking every lawsuit that comes his way, you sure made a mess of shit, didn't cha?"

Karasuma again ignored Sakaki's, less than subtle approach to interigation, and addressed Mr. Hanya directly. "So it's quite obvious you know exactly what we know, and in this case, maybe a little more. So I have some questions for you." She reached inside her trench coat's breast pocket and retrieved a photograph. "I'd like you to have a look at something; I warn you, it's not pretty."

Karasuma flashed the photo before the man.

"Good...lord..."

"This was one of the lattest victims found dead. We're at a loss as to his name or anything. Perhaps you can fill in the blanks."

Mr. Hanya took an unsteady look at the photo. "No I don't recognize him. I dought he even attends this school."

"I see. Alright one more thing. We've recently identified another victim, a young girl who attended here by the name Nanali Lamperouge. She has a sibling; an older brother; where is he?"

"I'll page him now."

While the two investigators waited for Mr. Hanya to make the page, Karasuma's cell phone went off. "Karasuma." She answered.

"_It's Amon. Detective Dojima has just been officially declared missing."_

"Oh my god... you're positive?"

"_Just got the call from Michael. Details on when are scarce, but he's nowhere to be found. Tried calling his cell...nothing."_

"I'll relay the message. Keep me posted on any happenings." She flipped the phone closed and said to Sakaki, "Dojima's gone missing."

"Jesus. Do you think it's zero?"

"In all likelyhood; police officers just don't vanish like that."

Their coverasation was interupted when the office door swung open. A young, slender, black-haired boy walked into the room. "You wanted to see me, Mr. Hanya?" he said politely.

"Actually, no. We wanted to see you." Karasuma said in answer. "Please, sit."

The young man took a seat and stared expectantly at the the two officers. "I'm detective Karasuma, and this is my partner, detective Sakaki. We've called you because-"

"This is about my sister, isn't it?" The boy said.

"So you already know?"

"How could I not? Maybe you should have your lone sibling go missing one day, and later find them dead." It was here something happened. A change came over the boy, slowly at first, but while he spoke he seemed to give off some disturbingly righteous energy, as though his speech of anquish were coming from deep-rooted personal experience, in this case, was perfectly applicable; "Someone like you who does this for a living; someone who is paid in exchange for; who reaps the benefits of bringing emotional pain to the lives of people who never deserved it. How could someone like you possibly understand the pain I'm in?

Do you understand pain, Ms. Karasuma? Suffering? You won't, not until the day it happens to you. And when that day comes, you will be able to see, but the question is, will you be able to understand?"

The room sat silent for an impossible lenth of time, the silence somewhat saturated by the sounds of confused students being hearded into classrooms by SWAT officers at gunpoint.

Sakaki and Mr. Hanya sat stunned by the boy's speech, but Karasuma sat somewhat beninely, as though she had heard this kind thing before. "You're a smart kid, so there's no sense in tip-toe-ing around. Do you know anything else about the murders around the city?"

"Only from what I've read online and in the papers. The authorities try to keep us ignorant, but they can't hide everything."

"So nothing then..." Karasuma said, sounding slightly dissapointed, but at the same time intrigued. "Alright, head on back to class now, but I'd like your name first."

The boy rose from his chair slowly, his lack of enthusiasm in the movement seemed perfectly warrented by the situation, so no one rushed him along. He reached for the office door's handle and swung it open. There, only on the threshold, did he speak; "Lelouch Lamperouge..." He let that hang in the air for a moment, and them left the room.

##################################################################################

Altair knew screaming was pointless. This situation, while completely new, was disturbinly familiar. He was inside of a somewhat large four walled room. Where this place may have been was something that he had no hope of figuring out. He was standing on an elevated platform in the very center of the room. His arms were secured behind his back with what felt like handcuffs; cold steel warmed by the alarmed heat of his body. Around his neck was a thick leather collar attached to a long chain secured in the cieling; a noose.

Hot tears of fear, anger, frustration, and a few other fellings that Altair couldn't quite describe ran down his face. The last thing he remembered was being on the train with that detective, and then...he ended up here. What had happened? had the detective done this to him? Altair's thoughts were broken by the sound of the metal door to the room slowly creaking open. A lone person entered. A person Altair had, not until after his ordeal, only seen in his nightmares. The person Altair knew was responsible for his misery.

A woman in glasses and an oversized sweater. "Hello, Altair." She said.

The words sent an electric shock through Altair's brain. "You were given ample warning last we met, and yet we find ourselves face to face yet again, why is that?"

Altair couldn't think; no words came to him in his heightened state of terror. "It's the choices we make, Altair, that determine our everyday lives. You made the wrong choice, so now, this is your life." She raised her hands and motioned to the four grimy walls of the place. "But, you are not without hope. Right now your uncle is desperately searching for you. He has two hours to find you." At this decloration, a digital timer came to life above the door, counting backwards from two hours.

"Unfortunately, if he does find you within two hours, you will die."

"W-what do you mean!" Altair choked.

"Your uncle has several choices to make along his path to you. However the choice he ultimately makes in the end will be the most important. For if he makes the wrong one, he'll only be able to watch as the object of his desire hangs just out of reach." The woman laughed softly to herself at this. The then proceeded towards the door.

"Don't do this to me! Don't leave me here!"

The woman blew Altair a kiss and swung the heavy metal door closed behind her.

##################################################################################

_SHE'S WAITING FOR YOU_

Those were the words painted on the ancient rusty door. Whoever 'she' was, Dojima had no clue, he was also at a loss as to what could possibly be behind this door. Zero was leading him along. It seemed like the closer he got to maybe finding Altair, the further away he seemed to get, all Dojima could do, was to keep moving.

He pressed his weight against the door and it suddenly gave way causing him to stumble clumsily inside. Again he found himself in an enourmous dark room. Well, it was mostly dark, there seemed to be some kind of strange glow coming from somewhere in the center of the room. It was then that two things hit him; one was an unidentifiable heat source that washed over him, causing him to perspire slightly under his dress shirt. The other, was a frightened voice, "HELLO! IS SOMEONE THERE!"

Dojima took a few cautious steps in the voice's direction and was immediatly blinded by the overhead floodlights flaring on. His eyes adjusted in time, yet his ears couldn't adjust to the screams of the person he found before him. Lying in a shallow body mold that was carved into the floor, was a young girl. "What the..."

"Sir! Oh, god, please help me!" She was strapped down by both her arms, her legs, and her torso.

Dojima knealt down at tugged on her restraints; an effort he immediatly found to be useless. "Calm down and listen to me, okay? What's your name? How did you get here?" Dojima's old police instincts began to rise to the surface; if he could keep the girl talking, he could keep her from panicking.

"I DON'T KNOW HOW I GOT HERE! I just woke up and...GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

So much for that approach.

Dojima surveyed the scene. The heat he had felt upon his entrance to the room was much more intense now, just where the hell was it coming from? He swiveled his head around and his eyes came to rest on an all too disturbingly familiar object; a small recorder.

"Try to relax, I'll get you out of here." The girl looked back through her frightened green eyes and gave a silent nod. Dojima yanked the recorder from the string it was suspended from and reluctantly pressed the play button:

"_Hello, Dojima. The abduction of your nephew has no dought left you stinging all over, but now I present to you a second chance to prove yourself a savior. You will find a young girl in front of you, her name is Yuka Ayase; her reckless thrill-seeking nature leant itself perfectly to her newly preffered passtime of vandalism. She takes a personal pleasure in the destruction of another person's posessions; but today it is Yuka's most precious posession that faces destruction._

_ To your left you will find four car batteries. You must must close the circuts by attaching each of the cables to your four limbs. Once you have done so, a thirty second timer will begin. If you cannot endure the pain for that leanth of time, then Yuka will perish; lost forever in the heat of the moment. Let the game begin."_

"Jesus, helpme PLEASE!" The girl looked wildly to Dojima, who looked slowly to his left.

There he saw the four car batteries arranged in a small circle, each of them had a cable connected to it, ending in a clamp. Dojima approached the setup and took up a cable. "Fucking, dammit," Dojima winced as he closed the first cable on his arm. Even through his shirt he could feel the jagged metal teeth bite into his skin.

"C'mon! Hurry up!" Yuka urged him on.

Dojima connected the second cable to his left arm and the third to his left leg.

Now came the hard part.

"You can do it," Yuka said, more calmly than before. "Get me out of here!"

Dojima inhaled shaply and connected the final cable.

_!_

Or a sound close to that instantly filled the room. Dojima felt control leave his body as the electricity shivered it's way all along his being. In front of him on a short pedistal the thirty second timer had sprung to life and began counting backwards.

"C'mon! Do it! Do it! Do it!" Yuka pleaded.

'thir- way- how -! -time-! too-Much!_-how-!' Dojima couldn't keep track of his thoughts as they tore through his pain shrouded brain. Everything seemed to be coming from everywhere.

00:16...

Dojima couldn't think or see strait but his nerves relayed through his body what his mind couldn't process at the moment; pain. His skin was begining to burn and smoke had begun to drift from under his clothing.

00:11...

"Please, please, just a little more!" Yuka screamed. Her eyes were glued on this man desperatlely trying to endure this pain to save her life. She turned her head to the timer; 00:09... "You can make it! Please!"

Dojima's eyes were rolling in his head, his entire body was shaking so violently Yuka was sure he could break his neck.

00:03 "Yes! Please! God yes!" Yuka turned her eyes from the timer back to Dojima...and felt her heart fall into her stomach. Dojima was no longer connected to the cables. He was collasped in a heap on the cold floor. He managed to lift his head and stare though his dulled eyes at her. The pain had stolen his ability to speak, but the look on his face said, perhaps more clearly than words could have, 'I'm sorry'. 00:00

Another set of lights flared on in the very center of the room. This revealing a huge suspended tank at the top of a chute, the bottom of which, let out at the base of Yuka's body mold. At once the enourmous tank tilted, emptying it's contents down the shoot:

white-hot molten metal.

"!-

Yuka's scream was instantly cut off. The mold she was in was complety washed in the fatal white glow. Dojima could muster no respone to this. Even as he stood, his burned skin being stretched again to full standing position, he felt as though he left a peice of himself on the floor. The heat coming off the scene before him aggrivated his burns, sending pain signals to his brain,which for some reason, was unable to register them.

On the other side of the room a new door had swung open, and a light beckoned him to walk through it. it was that simple, but every step he took along the way was anything but. This was no longer just about Altair, this was about the lives of people who he had failed to save, and possibly, more like them. If there was anything he could do to save who he would meet next...

-End of chapter 4

***PHEW! I know it's been AGES since I posted my last chapter (for any of you you care about reading this) but the whole having to find a new place to live thing kinda put a damper on my fic progress. But now that I'm settled once more I can finally move on. Killingsky is back, and the games will finally continue***


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

The occupants of the small classroom were silent; deathly silent. The SWAT officers standing in front of the room holding machine guns saw to that. Yukari's teeth had a deathgrip on her bottom lip. Just what in the world was going on here? Suddenly the door to the room slid open and someone new entered. His prescence was definately one of authority; in the few short steps he took to the front center of the room he managed to make eye contact with everyone there. "None of you have anything to fear," were the man's first words. "This is for your protection." He cast a slow and piercing look into every eye pointed in his direction. "My name is Amon. I'm with the STNJ. Recently there was something shown on television across inaba. A...broadcast, you could call it. Those events were real."

"Real?"

"What do you mean?"

"That guy really died?"

"Are you joking?"

The students went into an uproar at this revelation; which was quickly silenced by Amon raising his hand.

"A state of emergency has officially been declared over inaba. We have security checkpoints at all the entrances and exits to this town. The culprit is currently unknown, but this isn't a big place, he'll run out of hiding places eventually. Until then we're initiating martial lockdown. From here you will proceed to the auditorium where the entire school will be breifed and cautioned on the proceedures of this heightened state of crissis."

Amon took a few steps forward and rested his fingertips on one of the front row desks; the desk that belonged to Fuuka. " We're asking for your cooperation in this matter, and be rest assured that we are employing our every resource in the investigation of this case. You have nothing to fear as long as you follow our instructions. Now please follow me to the auditorium."

The students somewhat timidly obeyed and rose from their seats and began to file out the door under the officer's lead. Fuuka remained seated as Yukari wlaked past her desk, but suddenly she turned around and faced the seated girl. "Um...listen. Your one of Misa's friends too, right?"

"I am," Fuuka said back simply.

Yukari supressed a shudder. She never did like talking to this wierd girl. "Well it's just that she ran off without saying where she was going; but that was hours ago. Then the cops held us in this room for forever. I tried calling her cell but she didn't answer...you haven't heard anything from her, have you?"

Fuuka was silent for a moment; either preparing a response, or feining ignorance to the question. Telling which it was seemed impossible. "I don't know where she is," she said finally. "But I'm sure she's in a place she deserves to be." With that she stood and exited the room, and for the second time, Yukari was left alone to stand and wonder.

##################################################################################

"Yes of course."

... "I don't know for certain"..."Even so, the decision is out of my hands."..."THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT! If I did, we both know what would happen." ..."An escort. I was promised safe transport out of town." ..."The game isn't over yet."..."I have one last task to complete for phase three."..."A stand in."..."Understood. zero's will be done."

The phone was flipped closed and the conversation ended.

##############################################################################

_WHAT IS THE VALUE OF REFORM?_

The answer to, and the importance of this question both illuded Dojima. All he knew that it was a clue to his next test;as it was emblazed upon yet another ancient metal door. Dojima wasted little time in prying it open, and was again rewarded with pitch blackness for his effort. He waited in a somewhat defiant silence, refusing to let himself make te frirst move or speak the first word. The lights finally clicked on, and the next gauntlet was revealed.

Like every other; this room was large, but more so than the others. On the other side of the room in front of Dojima were two enormous sliding garage doors, and there was something else.

"What the..." a young girl was chained to one of the garage doors. "You, sir! Help me please!"

Dojima cast a look to his left and there, chained to to the other door, was a young man.

"Christ, what the hell is this?"

Dojima didn't know either of the two kids, but he did know the uniform they wore; the uniform of St. Hermelin. So they were connected somehow.

"Please! Just don't stand there, do something!" The girl pleaded.

"If you did this to me, I swear I'll have you in prison faster than you can say-"

The young man's sentance was cut off by a small television flickering to life near Dojima's left.

The figure on the screen slowly swam into clear focus. Dojima wasn't alarmed at it's appearance, he knew he was only looking at a mask; that's what these freaks did; hid their faces behind masks. The two huge and unblinking yellow eyes seemed to stare right through his soul, as though looking for something they couldn't quite see on the surface. After this pause, the figure began to speak:

"_Hello once again, Dojima. You are close to reclaiming what you have lost, and yet you are still so far away. Right now you will find two people in front of you; The boy's name is kei nanjo, and the girl is Yukino Mayuzumi. One of them has gone through life without experiencing any hardships, while the other has recently found guidence in their newfound life of reform. The question you must answer now is what is the value of reform? Is the one who found their lost way more deserving of life than the one who never strayed?_

_ The device behind you will help you make your choice. Inside it you will see a button, that button will open the middle door, allowing you to pass with minimal incident, however, a sacrifice of sorts must be made on your part to gain accsess. If you choose not to make this sacrifice, you may forfeit the life of another to find your path. Regardless of the choice you make here, you will learn that all paths in life lead to the same destination. Make your choice."_

"Forfeit the life of another! What the blazes does he think he's doing?" Kei screamed at the now blank television.

"Oh, god, oh, god no..." Yukino wimpered.

Dojima tried to keep his head as clear as possible as he peered inside of the box. At the back, he could see the button, the button that would open the middle door. He glanced quickly to his left and saw the door; it had a burning red question mark painted on it. Looking back into the box, Dojima became aware of the sacrifice the mask person warned him about. At the top of the box was a singular mounted blade. No dought it would fall as soon as he pressed that button.

"Do it! Press the button!" Yukino could see the dought in dojima's face as she struggled against her restraints. "Please, I knew what I was doing was wrong, but-but, that was before I grew up! I learned from my mistakes, just please let me go!"

Dojima walked in front of the two doors. Both kids were within his range of sight that way.

"Listen to me," said Kei. He looked Dojima right inthe eye as he spoke; trying to appeal to him on a more human level than simple pleading. "Think about what you're doing, if you plan on killing one of us, kill her! You'd do the world a favor, she's nothing but a delinquint punk trying to be a little miss stait arrow. I can help you, just choose to let me live!"

Dojima turned away and clutched at his aching head. One of these two had to die, the question was who?

Suddenly, right there on the spot, something came to him. Eventhough his brain seemed to be absent; replaced by pain caused by the morbid power of some new twisted life- saving death mantra, he knew his decision was clear. He turned around again and saw a lever next to the door Kei was chained to.

"What are you doing!" he shouted .

In answer, Dojima pulled the lever.

"NoOOO! You idiot!" Kei's door began rise, taking him with it. As pointless as struggling was, Kei twisted and pulled as hard as he could, obviously to no avail. Then from his new elevation, he looked down on Dojima and said, "I want you to remember what I said. You chose to let her live instead of me, that same sentiment _will_ get you killed one day. And I'll be waiting when it does."

Kei's door was almost completely open. Dojima knew what would happen once Kei's body reached the top. kei looked up a and saw his death was only seconds away. Dojima didn't know why the boy didn't scream, maybe it was defiant pride, or acceptence, but neither of those two qualities changed what happened next.

Kei's head finally hit the top of the door. Dojima watched as his head was pushed sideways at a sickeningly inhuman angle. Then there was a SNAP! and the rest of the boy's body went limp. The door screeched and starained as it tried to roll upwards, with Kei's body in the way. His entire head was crushed as it was rolled under, blood streamed down his body and cascaded to the floor. The mechinism in the door finally shorted out from the strain and it finally gasped to a stop.

"Oh my god..." was all Yukino could muster.

The door stop right on Kei's chest level. Half of his body had benn compacted in the door's roller. Blood dripped steadily from his body hitting the floor.

_pat..._

_ pat..._

_ pat..._

Dojima cast the girl a long empty look then proceeded through the now opened door.

He was met with more darkness, which was quickly evaporated by the shining floodlights flaring on. After his eyes adjusted, he cast a look to his left. There on the wall behind him he saw somehing familiar. A small metal door next to a huge rolling garage door. "No..." he muttered weakly. He dashed back through the door he came through and was immediatly met with Yukino's widened eyes and fear-labored breathing. "They all lead to the same place..." he ran through the door and could right away see...the other side of the doors.

"THEY ALL LEAD TO THE SAME FUCKING PLACE!" Dojima crumpled to his knees. That was it, he had reached his breaking point. He had managed to stay relativly silent throughout this particular test, but the end result was too much to take. Yet another innocent person died because of him. Because of his inability to see past zero's tricks. "No more," he said to himself, "No more people die because of me." He raised himself to standing level again and turned to face the darkness.

-END OF CHAPTER 5

THE FINAL CHAPTTER IS NEXT-


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

Dojima was on his knees; gravity had suddenly become overwhelming. He couldn't see much through his tear-blurred eyes, which didn't matter much, everything that needed seeing was in plain sight. Dojima found himself in yet another enourmous room, the first, and only things to jump out at him were two huge glass boxes. They were no more than twenty yards in front of him standing on opposite sides of the room. If experience had taught him anything, it was that this was another test; a test of his will; to ensure that no one in this room was subjected to death.

Dojima had long ago grown sick of his tormentor's secrecy, he wanted answers; he wanted zero.

"Zero!" he howled into the room. He marched up to the glass box on his left and pounded on it with his fists. The thing was even longer than it was wide; it looked to be a good thirty feet in leangth. "Come out you son of a bitch! Stop hiding, show yourself!"

As though in answer, light flooded the glass box, revealing a singular figure. Dojima steped back in suprise, not actually anticipating his mad request be answered. The figure inside was completely stock-still, Dojima actually wondered if he/she, whoever it was, was even alive. The figure wore a long slim cape of royal blue that was so dark it almost appeared black. The cape covered every inch of the figure's body and it's collar was spiked upwards, almost surrounding the figure's head. Then there was the head itself. Dojima knew it to be a mask, but how was it that this person could see? The mask was absolutely featureless; nose, mouth,eyes and ears were all absent. And yet, Dojima couldn't supress the feeling, (or a shudder) that this person was staring directly into, if not even _through_ his eyes. They both held this suspensory stance for seemingly forever, then the figure tilted it's head, (it's first sign of movement) and uttered two simple words:

"Hello, Dojima."

Dojima was seemingly galvanized back into reality. He pounded the glass box and screamed, "Where's Altair?"

"The person you seek is just beyond that door," with that ,another light flared on in the very rear of the room, illuminating another locked door. "Do not be alarmed, they are safe from harm, so long as you see to that."

"What the fuck does that mean?" Needless to say, Dojima was _very_ alarmed.

"In due time the secrets will reveal themselves, but before there can be revealation, there must be hardship, with that I present to you your penultimate test."

The lights came to life inside of the other glass box and Dojima was horrified to see what what was revealed. Inside of the box was a young girl, she was stapped down by her arms and legs. She was flat on her back, chained to a device that Dojima immediatly recongnized.

It was a saw mill.

She snapped wide awake and quickly learned the direness of her circumstance.

"Oh,god, HELP ME!" she whiped her head around and her eyes fell on Dojima . "Jesus, sir, please get me out of here, HELP!"

Dojima didn't know what he could do for the girl so he turned back to zero.

"The girl you see before you is someone unknown to you, and yet, you hold her life in your hands. Her name is Misa Amane. To me, she was a refugee, a lost soul that I took into my circle to teach her the true meaning of life. But instead she used her teachings only to insight death on the undeserving, now we will see if it is _her_ that is truly deserving of death."

"Zero, please no! I-I didn't- I didnt mean..." Misa trashed wildly against her restraints. She cried through her make up sending black streaks down her face.

"I tried to help you, Misa, but apparently, my lesssons weren't clear enough for you. Right now in this man's eyes you are a victim, however, you can't fool me, I know what you've done."

Misa's eyes went wide as her teeth began to chatter through sheer terror.

"Now detective you will make a choice. You can open the door to this cell and arrest me, or you can choose to save the life of a murderer. The choice is yours."

The saw mill Misa was strapped to sputtered to life, and so did Misa's screams."HELP ME! PLEASE!" The conveyer she was on began to move her forward, directly into the huge buzzing sawblade.

Dojima was torn, here he had the chance to stop zero once and for all. How many lives could he potentialy save? Dozens? Hundreds? This girl meant nothing to him. He would arrest zero and force him to tell him where Altair was, it was that simple.

"SIR PLEASE! Don't do this to me! I'm so sorry please! HELP ME!" Misa's desperate words were barely audible over the whirring of the sawblade.

Those were the same words that made Dojima hesitate.

What was that he had promised himself? 'No one else dies because of me' the words rattled loosely in his head, as though they had come from someone else. Right now, staring into the face of zero, the mastermind behind the abduction of his nephew, and the pain of countless others, he knew his choice was clear.

He couldn't let Misa die.

"AHHHHH! AHHHHHH! God NOOOOO!" Misa's screaming had reached a gut-wrenching fever pitch. Dojima pried the box's door open and rushed inside.

He looked the device over from top to bottom, but saw nothing that resembled an off switch. "How the fuck do you turn this thing off?" Misa was too terrorized to think strait as the conveyer slowly wheeled her to her doom.

"DO SOMETHING, PLEASE!" the saw blade had just began to eat through the hem of her short leather dress and was seconds away from cutting her in half. "AHHHHHGGHHHHHH!"

And thats when Dojima spoted it, a black lever at the very head of the device. Dojima dove for it and pulled it with both arms. Instantly, the blade lost power, and Misa stoped moving litterally inches from the steel disc of death. "Oh,god, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you..."

Misa broke down into manically relieved sobs and Dojima could finally breathe again.

Dojima whirrled around as a new sound filled the space, and was able to see the huge glass box, with zero inside, slowly sink into the floor. Dojima made no move as he watched it's decent, and when finally it was no longer visable, he turned back to Misa. The girl was still wide-eyed and breathless, but she was alive. "Thank you," she said, barely above a whisper. Dojima could only nod, the words wouldn't come to him. He wandered out of the box and stood in the center of the huge room again. He remained there for a moment, as though he couldn't quite remember just what it was he was doing there, and then he saw the lighted doorway; suddenly, memory and motivation returned to him. Slowly a new look came over him, his posture changed from that of emotionally defeated relief, to tortured wanderer who just espied the promised land.

Dojima marched across the room and threw open the door. He found himself in another derilict corridor, he charged strait down to find that it ended at another door. This particular door made Dojima pause, for written on it were the words:

_REMEMBER YOUR CLOSEST_

How long ago had he read those same words? Had it been hours? Years? He seemed unable to process the concept of rational time elapse anymore. Only one thing mattered to him now; find Altair. He pushed through the heavy rusted door and barged through another barren corridor. He stopped suddenly when he came face to face with yet another rusted door.

_SHE'S WAITING FOR YOU_

Again Dojima cast back into his seemingly life time ago memory of this reading. He remembered the pain that these words brought to him and he snapped back to reality. Just one more door, and he'd rescue Altair, and the nightmare would be over. He pushed it open, walked through, and found himself in another empty room. The only things remarkable about it were two metal doors that stood about ten feet to his right or left. Dojima looked to the door on the left, the crimson words emblazed on it read:

_YOUR CLOSEST_

The door on his right bore one simple word:

_ALTAIR_

That was all he needed to see. "Altair!" he screamed through the door.

"don...en...oor!" the words were muffled and seemed strangely distant. Dojima couldn't imagine Altair being in one of those twisted contraptions that zero had thought up. He took a deep breath and broke the door down with his shoulder.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Dojima could see Altair, he was in the dead center of this crippled room, about twelve feet in the air on some kind of elevated platform. But right now he seemed to be in a frenzied panic. "The timer! I still had-" his last words were traped in his throat as the platform dropped away sharply leaving him hanging by a chain wrapped around his neck.

"JESUS CHRIST NOOOO!" Dojima could only watch in horrible anquished desperation as Altair struggled pointlessly against his gravity-driven strangulation. "NO! NO! NO! NO!" Dojima jumped feverishly to try to reach Altair, but to no avail. Altair's legs at once stopped moving and became impossibly rigid. He was dead. Dojima sank to the floor. It was over, he had lost everthing, there was nothing left, not even tears.

Then suddenly the wall to his left retracted, revealing what looked to be a cage. It was then that Dojima realized that he hadn't lost everything. At the end of this nightmare, when all hope had been seemingly taken away, just when life seemed it's darkest, he still had a small consoling light. A light that had never shone as brightly as it did now.

"Daddy!" sqeaked the small girl in the cage.

"Nanako!" Dojima sprung up to run to her-

Just when the cage she was in swiftly shut in on her, cutting her to absolute, bloody ribbons.

##################################################################################

_two weeks later..._

"Oh my god, are you serious?" Yukai Takeba had just gotten a call from her best friend Misa Amane; she was in police custody. Yukari had stoped dead in her tracks when she heard this. She had been on her way out of an electronics store in Paulownia mall, and now stood bathed in the glow of eight stacked tv screens in the store's window display.

"_I can't tell you the reason that I'm here,"_ Misa said through the phone. _"But I guess I just wanted to say that I won't be seeing you for a while."_ Misa let a small sad laugh at this.

"Mi-Mi, you're scaring me," Yukari moaned. "First you take off without saying where you're going, then you call me and tell me-"

Yukari stopped speaking entirely at that point. What she was seeing on the eight tv screens in front of her had seen to that.

Each of the screens had suddenly turned to static, having previously been running a trailer for a new horror movie about to open in theaters. The images that replaced the static, were unfamiliar to Yukari, but at the same time, she somehow knew enough to be afarid of them. The screens now showed a lone figure, whatever it was, it surely wasn't wasn't human; it must have been a mask. There were no features on it whatsoever, it was just a blank, empty facade. But then, suddenly, it began to speak, in a cold, venomous, and impartial drawl:

_"Hello,Inaba. Once again we find ourselves face to face, and yet so far apart. Very recently, another piece of my mystery has been brought to light, at least as much as your authorities were able. They will more than likely spare you the details, suffice it say that their precious populace has seen enough of their relative incompetance. I, on the other hand offer no such quarter. Now I will give something, Inaba, the next piece of the puzzle."_

At this, the person reached upwards and removed the mask from their face, revealing the face of an intense-looking young man. Then he took a breath and screamed:

"MY NAME IS LIGHT YAGAMI! I AM ZERO!"

-SAW 0-3

-END-

##################################################################################

-Yes, it's finally finished. Another eternity between chapter posts, and yet another apoledgy. My life keeps coming back to haunt me, and certain circumstances arise as to prevent me from working my fic (or anything else constructive). Just please bear with me and keep faith.

Personal problems aside, just rest assured that part four is coming soon. Keep checking in on the persona series/saw Xover fics link (cause I'm the only guy doin' anything of the sort) for any updates to zero's mad plan to teach Inaba the value of life. While your there, why not take the story from the top and do a liitle catch-up refresher on the story thus far? Or tell your friends about this crazy fic you're reading! (It's going to be eight installments so stay tuned!)

Self promotion over! Thanks fer readin'!

-Killingsky


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